Meal 3 Summary (Cabbage Salad, Chinese "Steamed" Buns)

Wowee. Lots of good food and unconventional to boot. We were not sure what to expect, but it turned out to be quite filling.

Cabbage Salad (Adam 3.5/5  Alex 3.5/5)
This recipe worked out well: not too much work and a ton of salad. We have a giant tupperware of leftovers for today. Although it must be admitted that we were initially wary of the notion of a cabbage salad, this dish brought an unexpected surprise. We added some extra filling from the Chinese "Steamed" Buns on top of the salad, which made the dish even tastier.

Chinese "Steamed" Buns (Adam 4/5 Alex 4/5)
I got the idea for these buns from a place I used to go in China Town in Victoria. They sold steamed buns filled with barbecued pork, so this is in essence a vegan adaptation of that. Though traditionally steamed, we baked the buns instead as a way to make the recipe easier. The first time making these was a bit chaotic and took a little long, but most of the time was spent trying to figure out what we were doing. We suggest using left over seitan if you have any from the mandarin seitan. The result was really really tasty.

Cabbage Salad

Cooking time: 30 minutes

Serves: 8

1. 2 cups Cooked white rice
2. 1/4 cup vegetable oil
3. 1/2 cup sesame seeds, toasted
4. 1/2 cup chopped peanuts
5. 1/2 head cabbage, shredded

Salad Dressing

1. 1/3 cup vegetable oil
2. 1/3 cup wine vinegar
3. 2 tablespoon soy sauce
4. 1 tablespoon sesame oil
5. 1/4 cup white sugar

Directions

Fry nuts and sesame seeds over medium heat in the 1/4cup vegetable oil. After about 5 minutes, add the rice. While frying, shred the cabbage and place in a large bowl. Prepare the salad dressing in a separate small bowl and whisk together. Add the dressing to the cabbage along with the fried rice. Toss and serve! This was adapted from a recipe found here.

Week 1: "Chinese"/"What We Think Chinese Food Is"

Ingredients we needed to buy*:
Apples, wine vinegar, corn starch, marmalade, carrots, orange juice concentrate, bok choy, green onion, garlic, celery, tofu (one firm, one soft), bean sprouts, 3 bell peppers, mushrooms, cabbage.
Cost: $37.53

So, here's on the hit list for the week:
-Mandarin Seitan
-Hot and Sour Soup
-Sesame Tofu
-Singapore Noodles
-Steamed Buns
-Cabbage Salad
-Fried Rice


*This assumes you own basic ingredients such as salt, soy sauce, sugar, rice etc...